Tagged: association football

Here we see the classic Adidas Telstar ball from the 1970 World Cup. Said World Cup was the first to be televised live, and the ball was given contrasting colors to improve its visibility on television (hence the name). Although Adidas has unfortunately moved away from this classic icosahedral design in recent World Cup balls (a decision I believe they will come to regret), the Telstar remains the archetypal soccer ball design in popular culture, due presumably to the enduring aesthetic appeal of its hexagonal geometry. Modern balls that do not feature an actual contrasting color tiling often still use truncated icosahedral panels, presumably due to their structural superiority over other methods of ball enclosure.